RS485 only needs an 120 ohm terminating resistor at both ends of the bus. You can use a UTP cable without issues. I think the heat pump uses Modbus RTU. Then you need 4 wires. Rt,Tx, V, and neutral. There are plenty of options available for a low price. Cheaper than a UTP cable. Even though the terminating resistor is written in the standard. For normal distances up to a few meters and speed like 9K6, your bus wil probably work fine without the terminating resistor. Your enemy will be the distance. RS485 has length limitations that decreases when the speed is higher. Check the distance. And see if the heat pump has no built in webserver you can use. And check if Modbus is activated on the heat pump. Some manufacturers only enable this for BAS (with a license). I am working over 20 years with RS485 and still loathes it as a bus network. Especially with Modbus. I really hate that obsolete protocol. Answer from Deleted User on reddit.com
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Pro Wire and Cable
prowireandcable.com › home › belden › belden rs-485
Shop Belden RS-485 Cables for SCADA and Control Panels | Pro Wire
Shop Belden RS-485 cables for machine control networks and data transmission. Reliable performance with low capacitance and noise protection. Order now!
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Amazon
amazon.com › rs485-cable › s
Amazon.com: Rs485 Cable
Explore a wide selection of RS485 cables for industrial automation, building control, and data communication systems. Find shielded options and connectors.
Discussions

Which type of cable for RS485 / Modbus-RTU?
RS485 only needs an 120 ohm terminating resistor at both ends of the bus. You can use a UTP cable without issues. I think the heat pump uses Modbus RTU. Then you need 4 wires. Rt,Tx, V, and neutral. There are plenty of options available for a low price. Cheaper than a UTP cable. Even though the terminating resistor is written in the standard. For normal distances up to a few meters and speed like 9K6, your bus wil probably work fine without the terminating resistor. Your enemy will be the distance. RS485 has length limitations that decreases when the speed is higher. Check the distance. And see if the heat pump has no built in webserver you can use. And check if Modbus is activated on the heat pump. Some manufacturers only enable this for BAS (with a license). I am working over 20 years with RS485 and still loathes it as a bus network. Especially with Modbus. I really hate that obsolete protocol. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/homeautomation
7
4
September 17, 2024
communication - Is CAT5 cable good enough for RS-485 vs "true" RS-485 cable - Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange
It seems if there is a lot of RFI in the installation, shielded twisted cable can be justified. Rs485 is low impedance balanced , so twisting the pair helps with noise immunity as well as reducing the attenuation effect of higher baud rates due to the parallel capacitance of the wires in the ... More on electronics.stackexchange.com
🌐 electronics.stackexchange.com
June 7, 2012
RS-485 "Two WIre"
The "two wire" RS485 connection is a myth. It never has been that way. You need a third ground wire to make sure that no one on the network violates the common mode voltage specification. And you should never use the shield as a third conductor. A good choice is to use a two pair, individually shielded, twisted pair cable ... More on control.com
🌐 control.com
6
December 21, 2005
RS-485 communication cable
Yes, I am pretty sure normal thermostat wire will work as well, from outdoors to air handler I used 18 gauge 2 wire shield cable and it worked fine, from indoors to thermostat I just used existing thermostat wire and it worked aswell More on reddit.com
🌐 r/DIYHeatPumps
17
3
October 28, 2025
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Belden
belden.com › products › cable › fieldbus-cable › rs-485-cable
RS-485 Cable
The RS-485 Belden cables are the reference choice for automation systems, including Modbus, BACnet MS/TP, CANopen, or DMX512. Low capacitance and enhanced noise protection allow extended reach and the highest performance under harsh conditions, ...
Find elsewhere
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Lorric
lorric.com › en › Articles › flowmeter-technology › flowmeter-technology › what-is-rs485
What is RS485? Understand RS485 in 5 Minutes - Lorric
March 5, 2025 - In most cases, RS485-based devices can employ communication protocols such as Modbus and ASCII to establish communication with a central control system. To illustrate, let's consider LORRIC's paddle wheel flowmeter, which utilizes Modbus as the underlying protocol for defining various signal ...
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Southwire
southwire.com › wire-cable › genesis-cable › rs-485-shielded-cable-plenum › p › GEN2
RS-485 Shielded Cable, Plenum | Southwire
Genesis® Plenum Rated RS-485 Shielded Cable features the following quality and convenience characteristics:
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Laurels
laurels.com › meter-counter-options › cables › usb-to-rs485-adapter-cable
USB-to-RS485 Adapter Cable | Laurel Electronics, LLC
USB-to-RS485 Adapter Cable
The USB-to-RS485 Adapter Cable serves as a link between the USB port of a PC and the RS485 port of a Laureate meter equipped with digital interface ordering option 2 (board P/N L485), or a Laureate LT transmitter. Operating in half duplex mode, this cable facilitates communication between the PC and the meter or transmitter. When connecting to LT transmitters, the RJ11 connector is removed, and bare wires are used instead. The cable features distinct color coding: red and black for ground, green for ATX/ARX, and white for BTX/BRX. With a length of 5 feet (1.5 meters) and a sleek black color, i
Price   $47.00
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/homeautomation › which type of cable for rs485 / modbus-rtu?
r/homeautomation on Reddit: Which type of cable for RS485 / Modbus-RTU?
September 17, 2024 -

My home automation has so far been limited to things having APIs and IP addresses. Now I want to try to connect to my heat pump which has an RS485 connection. I already bought a Waveshare RS485 to USB converter which I configured on my Raspberry Pi.

Now which type of cable should I use to connect the RS485 connectors on the heat pump board to my Waveshare converter? The length of the cable is probably going to be somewhere between 5 and 10 meters.

I thought it didn't matter that much but then Googling led me into a rabbit hole with discussions about the impedance of UTP cables with 100 Ohms where RS485 needs 120 Ohms, another one put an extra 120 Ohms resistor in between the connectors... Other discussions were about CAT5 but I only have some CAT6 and CAT6A lying around or can easily get my hands on CAT5E....

Top answer
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While often shielded, CAT5 can be of the UTP type, meaning unshielded twisted pair. The "true" RS-485 cable you link to has two twisted pairs and a shield. If I remember right, CAT5e (and above) has a shield, at least most cables I have seen have - the exact standard can vary. I guess those would do the job just nice. Just make sure you use the twisted pair like in the original RS-485 cable (your data sheet looks like [1 White/Orange Stripe] and [2 Orange/White Stripe] are a twisted pair, and [3 Blue/White Stripe] is a third, untwisted wire.)

There seems to be a small impedance mismatch (100 Ohms for CAT5, 120 Ohms for RS-485). This will cause reflections at the driver and at the receiver, but I am pretty sure your application will still work. While you may read that 120 Ohms is typical for RS-485, the termination network uses 120 Ohms between the differential pair and 2 * 680 Ohms to VCC and GND.

Source

Thus, the value of the termination that the cable "looks into" is smaller than 120 Ohms anyway: (120||(680+680)) Ohms = 110 Ohms.

If you have the chance to test, you could go for it. I would probably not even hesitate and use STP CAT5(e). If your contract says you pay money for every minute your installation fails, you probably want to use cables with the proper specification. (The latter will still not make sure nothing ever fails, but you're probably in a better position if you can blame it on the "true" cable instead of having someone else blaming your "wrong" cable. But you see how this last paragraph has nothing to do with physics...)

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Generally speaking CAT5 s fine for RS485. IME the first limit you hit is the series resistance driving a termination over a long cable. I've run 250kbaud over 100m reliably. Things started getting shaky at around 200-300m.

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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › RS-485
RS-485 - Wikipedia
March 13, 2026 - RS-485, also known as TIA-485(-A) or EIA-485, is a standard, originally introduced in 1983, defining the electrical characteristics of drivers and receivers for use in serial communications systems.
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OmniCable
omnicable.com › products › bel9842nh
Belden 9842 0601000 RS485, 2 Pr #24 Str TC, PE Ins, OS+TC Brd, PVC Jkt, CM #BEL9842NH | OmniCable
Home > Belden > Audio, Control & Instrumentation Cable > Belden 9842 0601000 RS485, 2 Pr #24 Str TC, PE Ins, OS+TC Brd, PVC Jkt, CM
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Renke
renkeer.com › home › blogs › rs-485 wiring, communication and difference with rs232
What is RS-485? Wiring, Communication and Difference - Renke
May 6, 2026 - Standard RS-232 cables can transmit reliably up to approximately 15 meters at 19.2 kbps, and practical installations rarely exceed 50 meters without signal conditioning. In contrast, RS485 supports significantly longer distances due to its differential signaling, with reliable transmission up to approximately 1200 meters at lower baud rates.
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Control.com
control.com › home › forums › communication › networking
RS-485 "Two WIre" | Automation & Control Engineering Forum
December 21, 2005 - Drives communicate fine on the bench using two wire twisted pair connecting data +, -. Wire purchased from Belden specifically for use in RS-485 comes with two conductors (twisted pair) and shield.
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Senix
senix.com › home › ultrasonic › ultrasonic accessories › wiring › rs-485 serial connection cable
RS-485 Serial Connection Cable | Senix
RS-485 Serial Connection Cable
RS-485 Serial Connection Cable This 6' cable accommodates RJ11 to DB9 serial connections from the terminal board to the serial port.
Price   $43.50
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DIY Solar Forum
diysolarforum.com › general discussion › diy solar general discussion
RS 485 cable is there special ones? | DIY Solar Power Forum
September 11, 2022 - Thanks Bentley this was a site I found back a few days ago https://voltaconsolar.com/blog/know...hium-ion-li-2021-2-4kwh-and-us2000-pylontech/ was hoping someone might have this unit and if they had issues I will attach a picture of my battery but cant find anything on it as well . Thanks for your help thinking on cutting a cable and maybe use clip leads to reverse wires ... So looking at the link I sent I would use 1-3 on rs485 side and 4-5 on voltronic and do the ground as well
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Quora
quora.com › What-is-an-RS485-cable
What is an RS485 cable? - Quora
Answer: Practically there isn't ... Ohms impedance) it doesn't really describe anything else. RS-485 is a data bus standard for serial communication which is reliable over many meters and......